Nature’s Path Foods is a family-run, passionately independent, sustainably-driven, delightfully nutritious organic breakfast and snack food company that believes in ‘always leaving the earth better than we found it’, and takes its approach to people, the planet and profit seriously.

“Nature’s Path has been prioritizing climate for over a decade. We identified early on that it would be core to our business success—and it matters to our customers. Making a commitment through the Climate Collaborative is allowing us to come together with other companies start to tackle key sustainability challenges as an industry,” says founder Arran Stephens.

Nature’s Path is one of only 10 companies who have made all nine climate action commitments through the Climate Collaborative. From food waste to transportation to robust agriculture practices, the company has seen real results from their innovations and investments:

Food waste: Nature’s Path was the first cereal company in North America to achieve zero-waste certifications in all three of its manufacturing facilities[1] diverting 93% of its waste from landfills in 2016. Waste diversion, on average, tends to lead to lower GHG intensity in products and can be a strong mitigation option for companies working with inefficient landfills.[2] In this case, Nature’s Path isn’t just seeing climate mitigation gains from these measures: it estimates annual savings of nearly $350,000 from zero waste programs at two of their three facilities, alone.

Packaging: Nature’s Path introduced Eco Pacs for their cereals which use 66% less packaging than traditional cardboard boxes, helping the company save 437 tons of paperboard per year and creating carbon reductions equivalent to taking 225 cars off the road for a year.[3]

Agriculture: The company is also a longtime leader in organic farming practices; with lower GHG emissions for crop production and enhanced carbon sequestration capabilities, Certified Organic ingredients product use has been core to Nature’s Path’s climate mitigation strategy. In 2014, the company purchased 2,760 acres of land in Montana to help increase organic farmland and to attract and educate new organic farmers.[4] In 2013-2016, Nature’s Path purchased over 190,000 tons of certified USDA Organic, Canadian Organic and Non-GMO project ingredients.

Value chain engagement: Nature’s Path is also looking beyond its direct operations when it comes to climate action. They ask suppliers to report on their sustainability, following SFTA’s Sustainable Supply Chain best practices and set high certification standards for the sourcing of key commodities like palm oil, a major driver of deforestation. They are also educating their consumers about the importance of organic farming and sustainable practices through their web site and ad campaigns.

“To us, success in business is only achieved by first being socially responsible and environmentally sustainable, and then financially viable. One can’t exist without the other, and every year we strive to make it further down the path of corporate sustainability.” – Nature’s Path 2016 Sustainability Report

Visit Nature’s Path’s website to learn more about their efforts.